felbel



May 27, 1924. 1,495,583

J. FELBEL COMPUTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 2 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 WITN 5555 5. I INVENTDR May 27, i924. 1,495,583

J. FELBEL COMPUTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 2 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTUR gm 5% Patented May 27 1924.

UNITED STATES 1,495,583 PATENT OFFICE.

.ucon FELBEL, or NEW YORK, N. 2., ASSIGNOR r0 REMINGTON ACCOUNTING mcnr n CORPORATION, or NEW roux, N. Y., A CORPORATION or NEW YORK.

COMPUTING MACHINE.

Application filed November 28, 1923. Serial No. 678,889.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JACOB FELBEL, citizen of the United States, and resident of the borough of Manhattan, city of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Computing Machines, of which the following is a. specification.

My invention relates to clearance proof mechanism for recording computing machines, and it has for its object to provide certain improvements in mechanism of that character.

lVly invention consists in certain features of construction, and combinations and arrangements of parts, all of which will be fully set forth herein and particularly pointed out in the claims.

One form of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- V.

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation partly in section of a machine having my invention embodied therein. In this figure, parts have been broken away and the mechanism in the lower part of the machine has been moved up close to that in the upper part of the machine in order to save space and permit of drawing on a larger scale.

Figure 2 is a front sectional view on the line 22 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a front elevation of so much of the machine as is necessary to an understanding of my invention.

Figure 4 is an isometric view of a certain bracket.

In the drawings parts have been broken away and parts omitted where that would contribute'to the clearness and simplicity of the illustration.

My invention'is here shown applied to a. Remington accounting machine which, ex-

cept for the application of my invention thereto, may be identical with the machines which have been'manufactured for a number of years and with the machine shown in the patent to John O. Wahl, No. 1,27 0,47 1 dated June 25, 1918. The said Wahl patent describes cross footing mechanism which is not essential to an understanding of my invention and which as far as my invention is concerned need not be present in the machine, I having shown my clearance proof mechanism applied to one of the vertical totalizers.

The Remington accounting machine includes a Remington No. 11 typewriter, the top plate 9 of the main frame 10 of which has stationary rails 11 on which a paper carriage 12 is adapted to travel. Printing keys 13, including letter keys, numeral keys and other ke s, are mounted on or constitute parts of ey levers 14 which are pivoted at their rear ends and are connected to suitable linkages with type bars similar to the type bar 15 shown in Fig. 1. The forward parts of these key levers are guided in a certain comb plate 16 secured in the base of the machine and comprising as will be understood from Figs. 1 and 3 a nearly horizontal shelf-like portion and a vertical portion, the latter slotted for the accommodation of the key levers. The keys 13 shown are numeral keys which are connected with the computing mechanism through links 17 The computing mechanism has a main stationary frame 18 which is suitably mounted on. the top plate 9 of the typewriter. The m'ai'n carriage or truck 20 of the computing mechanism runs on three wheels 21 at the middle of the machine, and it is propelled and partially supported by two brackets 22, one rigidly mounted on each end of the typewriter carriage 12 and each connected to an arm 23 of the truck 20 by means of shouldered screw and slot connections 24. The whole construction is such that the truck 21 travels in unison with the paper carriage 12.

On the truck 20 may be mounted any suitable number of vertical totalizers 25, these being dove-tailed onto the truck as shown in Fig. 1 and held in any suitable adjusted position along said truck by means of a latch, the handle 26 of which is shown broken away in Fig. 1. This handle is omitted from Fig. 3 to avoid obscuring other parts.

The totalizer or totalizers 25 are fully described in the Wahl atent above referred to. Each totalizerinc udes a series of dialsthereof a small rail 32 which runs on a stationary wheel 33 mounted in the framework of the actuator so that the forward part of the totalizer is positively held against being pulled downward.

The actuator referred to comprises a considerable amount of framing and mechanism, most of which is not shown herein but all of which is fully described in the Wahl patent above mentioned. I have shown in Fig. 1, however, a difierential shaft 34 having depending therefrom a spirally arranged series of arms 35 each pair of which has journaled between them a roller 36 adapted to be engaged and operated by a goose-neck cam 37 which is pivoted on a stationary frame rod 38. There is one pair of arms 35 and one goose-neck 37 for each of the digits 1 to 9, inclusive. Pivoted on the rod 38 by each one of said goosenecks is a fan 40 and there is also an addi-- tional fan for the zero key and each of said fans is connected by means of one of the links 17 with the appropriate one of the numeral key levers 14. When one of these fans is operated by the depression of a key it operates the corresponding goose-neckby means of a pin 41 on said goose-neck, and the latter operates the differential shaft 34 which, through certain gearing and other connections, operates the master wheel 31 turning said wheel one way for addition and in the opposite direction for subtraction.

When the cross footing mechanism is employed in the Remington accounting machine certain of the vertical totalizers 25 may be equipped with a subtract cam 42, which is adapted todepress a follower roller 43 mounted on the left-hand end of a rocking arm 39 to set the cross footer for sub traction. This arm is shown in section in Fig. 1 but it and the roller are omitted from Fig. 3 to avoid obscuring other parts.

The operation of the Remington machine includes the writing of numbers in columns each of which may be identified and located. by a vertical totalizer 25 adjusted to a point ng the truck 20 directly in front of the desired column, and numbers written in said column will,b e registered in the totalizer additively or subtractively, as desired, the

machine being provided with devices not all indicating zeros. "The fact that the dials do all indicate zeros at the end of this oper= ation is the proof that the total was correct- 1y copied, for if. the operator did not copy the exact number indicated on the dials, some one or more of them would not be brought to zero. It is the intention that after writing each total the operator verify the correctness of the work by observing the totalizer and noting that it is clear, but it may easily happen that the operator will neglect to do this and in that event if the total was incorrectly copied the fact would pass unnoticed, and it is therefore desirable to put into the machine some mechanism which will give assurance that every total was either copied correctly from the machine or else if it was copied wrong that the operator was notified of that fact, so that the mistake could be corrected. A number of contrivances for this purpose have been devised and itis the purpose of the present invention to provide certain improvements in them.

Means are provided to test the wheels for clearance immediately after the writing of every number in the column identified by the totalizer 25. A feeler 44 is pivoted in the side plates of the totalizer 25, the righthand pivot projecting beyond the side plate and having a square end 46 on which is secured the hub of an arm 47 that projects toward the front of the machine, said hub being secured in position by a set screw 48. The feeler 44 is inthe form of a comb comprising a bar extending along the pivotal axis of the feeler and a series of thin fingers projecting upward between the dials 27 and in the planes of the pinions 28. Each of said pinions has one tooth 50 made'shorter than the rest and so located that when the dial indicates zero this short tooth will stand in register with a tooth of the comb 44. The dial 27, shown in Fig. 1, is in position to indicate the numeral 8 and if it be turned additively or in the direction of the arrow two teeth further to indicate 0 or zero its short tooth will be in register with the comb 44. In case all the wheels of the totalizer are at zero, said comb can drop further forward than shown in Fig. 1 but if any one or more of the wheels do not stand at zero said comb will be held back by one of the long teeth of the pinion of each such wheel as does not stant at zero.

I provide in the typewriter a special type action adapted to print, under suitable conditions, some special character, such for example as a star to serve as a signal that the totalizer 25 was clear at the time when said star was printed. The star type 51 isshown mounted on one of the ordinary type bars 15 of the typewriter which type bar is connected by the usual linkage 52 with a key lever 53 pivoted at its rear'end in the base of the machine, the same as the other printing key levers of the typewriter. In Fig. 1 all but the forward portiontof this lever 53 levers except that it has no key 13 mounted on it but is provided with means whereby it can be connected with and disconnected from a special key. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways. In the present instance the lever 53 is cut off a short distance back of the vertical part of the comb 16. In order to guide this lever a special slotted plate 54 is fastened as by two screws to a cross bar'55 ordinarily present in the typewriter, the slot in this plate embracing the lever 53 to prevent sidewise motionl thereof. This lever like all of the other key levers of the Remington typewriter is normally held up by a spring near its rear end. The lever 53 is adapted under certain conditions to be operated by a key 56, means being provided to couple said key 56 with and to uncouple it from said lever 53. As shown in the present instance, this key 56 is the end key of the second row from the back of the keyboard, the rearmostrow being occupied by the numeral keys 13. The key 56 can be variously mounted but as here shown its stem hasa long slot 57 preferably made on a curve concentric with the pivot of the lever 53 and said key stem is guided by means of two headed and shouldered rivets 58 passing through the slot 57 and riveted into a sheet-metal plate 60. As here shown the plate "60 is vertically disposed and projects straight forward from just in front of one of the teeth of the comb 16. A plate of this general character and suitable for the purpose can be variously supported. In the present instance I have found it convenient to make it as part of a sheet metal support which also carries certain other devices presently to be described and which is shown separately in Fig. 4. This support comprises a bar 61 lying on the shelf-like part of the comb plate 16, to which it is secured by two screws at 62. The ends of this transversely extending bar are bent upward to make two ears 63 perforated to furnish bearings for a certain rock shaft which will presently be described. A branch or arm 64, projecting forward from the bar 61, is bent downward over the front edge of the shelf referred to and is extended into a section or bar 65 lying in front of the vertical part of the comb plate. The plate 60 is integral with and bent-ofi forward from this bar 65. The plate is supported primarily therefore from the bar 61 but the lower part of it rests against one of the teeth of the comb 16 which helps to brace it against deflection downward and rearward. The plate 60 has ears or flanges 66 bent oif therefrom partly for stiffening purposes but mainly to furnish a better support for the lower coils of a helical com ression spring 67 which is coiled about t e stem of the key 56 and compressed between said flanges and the head of the key. This spring normally! holds the key up as shown in Fig. 1 and returns it to that position after it has been operated.

The stem of the key 56 has a rearwardly extending arm 68 which passes through one of the slots in the comb plate 16 and terminates just in front of and in register with the forward end of the lever 53. Any suitable stop can be provided to arrest the upwardmotion of this special key, that shown in the present instance consisting partly of a pin 70 projecting from the plate 60 above the arm 68 and partly of the lower end of the slot 57 engaging the lower guide rivet 58.

The means for coupling together the key 56 and the lever 53 may be constructed in any one of a variety of ways. In the form here shown it comprises a make and break connection or coupling 71 made of a piece of sheet metal folded around the lever 53 so as to slide easily along said lever. In Fig. 1 this coupler is in uncoupled position but it can be slid toward the front of the machine to a position where it will engage the bar or arm 68, as well as the lever 53, and will couple said arm and lever together so as when the key is depressed it will carry the lever down with it and print the star; whereas when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 1 a depression of the key 56 would be idle as it would not operate the printing type. However, the difference in the feel or touch of the key would be so pronounced that the operator could not fail to notice that the star had not been printed.

The coupling piece 71 is controlled automatically from the feeler comb 44. Said 'coupling piece, as best shown in Fig. 2, has a shouldered and headed pin 72 riveted to one side thereof and passing through a vertical slot 74 in an arm 75 which passes through a hole made for the pur ose in the plate 16. The arm 75 has a hu which is secured as by means of a pin 76 on the righthand end of a rock shaft 77 which is journaled in the ears 63 of the frame bar 61 above described. The construction is such that the coupling piece 71 can be slid forward to its coupling position or rearward to its uncoupling position shown in Fig. 1 by rockin the shaft 77. When said arm is in its orward or coupling position the slot- 74 will be substantially vertical or substantially concentric with the pivot of the lever 53 so that if at that time the key 56 be operated and said lever be depressed, the pin 72 will slide down and up in said slot 74.

At its left-hand end the shaft 77 has rigidly mounted thereon an arm 78, said arm extending upward at a rearward inclination extends upward and forward therefrom and is pivoted at 81 to an angle lever 82. That part of the actuator of the computing mechanism in which the master wheel is included projects somewhat forward from the balance of said acutating mechanism and it comprises two vertical fore-and-aft frame plates, one of which, numbered 83, is shown in Fig. 1. The rear part of this plate is connected to the main frame casting 18 of the actuator by meansincluding a screw bolt 84 passing through said frame plate and through a lug of the casting. The projecting part of the actuator is indicated generally in the drawing by reference numeral 85. The lever 82 is one arm of a bail which embraces this projecting part 85 and is pivoted thereto. The lever or bail arm 82 is pivoted to the plate 83 by means including a post or Mg .86 and screw 87, and the other arm 88 of said bail is pivoted to a similar frame plate by means including a post or lug 90 and screw 91. Besides these two arms 82 and 88 the bail includes a cross bar 92 situated in front of the projecting part 85 of the actuator. As shown in the present instance, this bail is made by suitably stamping out and bending up a piece of sheet metal as will be understood from the drawings. It can of course be made in any suitable way.

The main part of the cross bar 92 of the bail is flat and its up and down thickness is merely that of the sheet metal, but at a point just to the left of -the plane of the master wheel said bar is thickened 'outby adding thereto one or more blocks or cam parts 93. In the present instance I have shown the bar thus thickened both above and below, but the. upper block or piece 93 could be omitted. These pieces 93 are rigidly secured on the bar 92 in any suitable way or they may of course if preferred be integral parts of said bar. Each of them is beveled off at its two ends, as shown in Fig. 3, to serve as a cam or wedge.

The arm 47, which as above described is operatively connected with the feeler 44,

has pivoted thereto and depending therefrom a link 07 pull bar 94 which between its ends is guided by passing through a suitable hole in a bracket 95 secured as by screws 96 to the right-hand frame plate of the-totalizer 25 and projecting forward therefrom. The lower end of the bar 94 is forked having two branches 97 projecting rearward therefrom, and preferably spaced apart a distance about equal to the combined thickness of the bar 92 and the two cam blocks 93. The construction is such that as the totalizer travels with the paper carriage and truck, one of the branches 97 will'pass above and the other below the cross bar 92 when the totalizer is in a osition at or near that where it is operated y the master wheel 31.

The parts are so proportioned that when as shown in Fig. 1 the feeler 44 is arrested by a long tooth of a pinion 28 the bar 94 will be held up so that if its prongs 97 embrace the cam part 93 of the bar 92 said bar 94 will hold said bar 92 in its upper position, pulling on link 80 and rocking the shaft 77 and arm 75 to the position shown in Fig. 1 where the coupler 71 is in its uncoupling position. But if the totalizer is clear so that the feeler can drop to its forward position then it is possible for the bar 92 to occupy its lower position and the coupler 71 to occupy its coupling position. I prefer to locate the thickened or cam part 93 of the bar 92 as indicated in Fig. 3. In this figure the totalizer 25 is shown standing in sub-units position, that is to say, one step to the left of that where the register wheel of lowest order was operated; and said thickened or cam part- 93 is embraced by the bar 94. During the preceding key strokes at which the register wheels were operated, the bar 94 was not engaging the cams 93 and there was no operative connection between the feeler 44 and the coupler 71; but the step of the carriage following the operation of the lowest register wheel brought thebar 94 into engagement with the thickened part or cam 93and established such a connection. Had the totalizer been clear at the time, it would have been possible for the coupler 71 to be in its forward, coupling position; but as the totalizer was not clear, the bar 94 was held up, and, being brought by the travel of the carriage into engagement with the wedge 93, forced the coupler to uncoupling position as shown in Fig. 1 by raising the bell crank 82 and link 80. In sub-units position is I think the best place to write the star which indicates a clear condition of the totalizer,

and I therefore prefer to have the coupler 71 under control of the feeler at that letter space position. In the drawing the thick part 93 which establishes such control, is shown made with-a dwell ofa length of about two letter spaces between its two cam ends so that in the two letter spaces immediately following a number written on the paper and added or subtracted in totalizer 25 it is impossible to write the star unless the totalizer be cleared. It is immaterial whether or not the star can be written in other situations because if written anywhere else it has no significance, and in the use of the machine the operator would, as a matter of fact, not write it anywhere else for that reason.

The train of mechanism beginning with the feeler 44 and ending with the coupler 71 can be spring operated in two or three different ways, and the spring or springs for the urpose can be variously located. It is highy desirable, however, so to construct the mechanism that the feeler 44 is never pressed wheel. For this and other reasons I prefer that the spring be connected primarily with that part of the train of mechanism which is mounted on 'the stationary framework,

namely, that beginning with the bail bar 92 and ending with the coupler 71, and-that there be no spring in the totalizer; at least none of any considerable strength. A spring can be suitably connected with almost any one of the movable parts mounted on the stationary framework. In the present instance I have found it convenient to mount th s spring 100 on the shaft 77 around which 1t 1s coiled, one end of the spring engaging the arm 7 8 and the other a cross bar of the typewriter frame 10. This spring exerts its pressure to hold the coupler 71 normally in its coupled position, and the bail bar 92 in its lower position, and these parts occupy the positions mentioned at all times except when the totalizer 25 is in the two or three letter space positions where the forked bar 94 engages the thick part 93 of the bail bar. This being so, the bar 94 and feeler 44 are entirely out of the influence of the spring during that part of the travel of the carriage and of the totalizer where the wheels of the totalizer can be operated by the master wheel 31. In the step of the carriage from units to subunits position, however, the lower branch 97 of the bar 94 engages the incline on the lower cam piece or part 93 and forces the two parts of the train of mechanism to change their relative positions. If the totalizer is clear the strength of the spring 100 will be exerted to pull the feeler 44 down against the short teeth 50 of the pinions 28. In this operation the feeler exercises, if necessary, a certain amount of aligning action on the wheels. If, on the other hand, the totalizer is not clear the feeler 44 will be positively held against forward motion and the bar 94 against downward motion. The bail 92 will therefore be forced to rise against the tension of the spring 100 with the result that the coupler 71 will be uncoupled and an operation of the star type 51 will be rendered impossible, because thekey 56 will be disconnected from the lever 53. In the use of the machine it is to be made the rule that the operator shall print a star in sub-units position after every total written on the machine. If the star is not printed its absence Wlll 1nd1- cate either that the operator failed to perform this testing operation or else that the totalizer was not clear. The absence of the star therefore indicates an absence of any mechanical assurance that the-total was correctly copied. The presence of the star on the other hand is proof that the totalizer was clear at the time when it was written.

The thickened part 93 of the ball bar 92, is beveled at both ends, so that it acts the same way whether the carriage be brought to sub-units position by its travel toward the left or by its return motion in the opposite direction.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a recording computing machine, the combination with register wheels, means for operating said-wheels, and means for printing numbers registered on said wheels, of means for testing said wheels for clearance, a special type for printing a character to indicate clearance, a key for operating said type, and a train of mechanism for communicating motion from said key to said special type,'said train of mechanism including a make and break connection controlled by said clearance testing device.

2. In a recording computing machine, the combination with register wheels, means for operating said wheels, a traveling carriage causing a relative travel between said wheels and said operating means, and means for printing numbers registered on said wheels, of a device for testing said wheels for clearance, a special type for printing a clearance character, a key for operating said type, and means controlled by said clearance testing device and said carriage for making and breaking the operating connections between said key and said type.

3. In ,a computing machine, the combination of register wheels, means for testing said wheels for clearance, a special key, a clear signal device operated by said key through a train of mechanism including a make and break device, and means whereby said make and break device is controlled by said clearance testing means.

4. In a combined typewriting and computing machine, the combination with typewriting mechanism including a carriage and the regular printing keys, and a totalizer controlled by the numeral printing keys and the carriage of the typewriter, of a special printing key and connections therefrom to a special type, and means controlled by the computing mechanism for making and breaking the operating connections between said special key and its type.

. 5. Ina combinedtypewriting and computing machine, the" combination with the typewriting'and computing mechanism, of a special key, a lever adapted to be operatively connected with and disconnected from said special key, and means controlled by the computing mechanism for controlling the connection and disconnection of said key with and from said lever.

6. In a combined typewriting and computing machine, the combination with typewriting mechanism including the regular printing keys and a carriage, com uting mechanism including register whee s and operating means therefor, said register wheels and operating means having a relative travel in unisonwith said typewriter carriage, of a special key, devices designed to be operated on occasion by said key, a disconnectible coupler normally spring pressed into position to couple said key with said devices, a fe'eler for co-operation with said register wheels, and cam mech anism for connecting said feeler with said spring pressed coupling devices in a certain pos1t1on of sa1d carriage;

7. In a combined typewriting and computing machine, the combination with the regular printing keysandthe carriage of the typewriter, computing mechanism ineluding numeral wheels and an actuator thereforfsaid wheels and actuator having relative travel in unison with said carriage, of a feeler for co-operation with said wheels, a special clearance proof key, devices adapted on occasion to be operated by said key, a spring pressed coupler for releasably cou pling said key with said-devices, and means operative by the travel of the carriage for communicating the pressure of said spring to said feeler at a certain position of said carriage.

8. In' a combined typewriting and computing machine, the combination with the regular typewriter printing keys and carriage, and computing mechanism including uncouplin devices together at a certain po sition of t e carriage.

9. In a recording computing machine, the combination with registering mechanism and recording mechanlsm, of a special key, a clearance indicating type for operation by said key, and means controlled by said registering mechanism for making and breaking the operative connections between said key and said type. i

'10. In a recording computing machine, the combination with computing mechanism and recording mechanism, of a special key, an arm 68 connected with said key, a lever 53 and a sliding coupler 71 adapted to releasably' connect said arm 68 -with said lever 53, and means whereby said coupler is controlled by said computing mechanism.

11. In a computing machine, the combination with a totalizer, an actuator therefor, and a carriage for causing a relative travel of said totalizer and actuator; of clearance testing device in said totalizer; a slidinglink 94- connected with said clearance testing device;-a cam adapted by the travel aforesaid to be brought into engagement with said link at a certain stage of said travel; and clear signal mechanism controlled by said cam.

12. In a combined typewriting and computing machine, the combination with the typewriting and computing mechanisms in; cluding printing keys and a carriage; of a special key lever having no key permanently connected therewith; a special key for said lever; and an automatically operated coupler for operatively connecting said key with said lever;

Signed at the'borough of Manhattan, city of New York, in the'county of New. York and State of New York, this 21st day of November, A..D. 1923.

JACOB FELBEL. Witnesses:

E. M. WnLLs, Gimme E. SMITH. 

